WASHINGTON — Four men posing as telephone repairmen were arrested for allegedly interfering with the telephones in Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office in downtown New Orleans, including James O’Keefe, a conservative filmmaker widely known for pretending to be a pimp and secretly taping ACORN officials in several cities, where he obtained advice on tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution.
Activist James O’Keefe, 25, recorded two of the other suspects with his cell phone as they walked into the office dressed like telephone repairman and said they needed to fix problems with the phone system, according to an FBI affidavit released Tuesday.
A federal law enforcement official said one of the suspects was picked up in a car a couple of blocks away with a listening device that could pick up transmissions.
Federal officials have not yet said why the men wanted to interfere with Landrieu’s phones, whether they were successful, or even if the goal was political espionage.
Edwards mulled leaving wife, book by former aide says
A former aide to John Edwards says in a new book that the two-time presidential candidate told him he thought about leaving his wife. The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Tuesday night that Andrew Young also says Edwards asked him to go into hiding with Edwards’ mistress, in part because of his wife’s health. Elizabeth Edwards has an incurable form of cancer. Edwards acknowledged for the first time last week that he fathered a child with Rielle Hunter.
Truck, bus drivers barred from texting at the wheel
The Transportation Department said Tuesday it is prohibiting truck and bus drivers from sending text messages on hand-held devices while operating commercial vehicles. The prohibition, which applies to drivers of interstate buses and trucks over 10,000 pounds, is effective immediately, the department said in a statement. Truck and bus drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750, the department said.
California: Law will close many medical pot clinics
The day feared by medical marijuana advocates arrived Tuesday when the City Council finally approved an ordinance intended to close hundreds of pot shops and banish those that remain to industrial areas. The new law, which passed 9-3, caps the eventual number of dispensaries in the city at 70; estimates put the number of such clinics in the city at 1,000. But at this point, 137 shops that registered before a 2007 moratorium could be allowed to keep operating if they adhere to the new guidelines. California, Washington and 12 other states that permit medical marijuana. Pot, however, remains illegal under federal law.
Mars rover just won’t budge
NASA on Tuesday declared an end to Spirit’s Mars roving career after repeated attempts to free it from a sand pit where it’s been stuck for nine months. With Martian winter approaching, the focus instead will turn to improving Spirit’s tilt so its solar panels can receive maximum sunlight. NASA said Spirit can still do research while stuck in place, provided it survives the winter. Spirit has logged nearly five miles during six years of rolling around the red planet.
Virginia: Remains are likely student
The remains of a Virginia Tech student who disappeared in October after attending a Metallica concert were discovered Tuesday in a remote farm field about 10 miles from the concert venue in Charlottesville, authorities said. Virginia State Police Superintendent Steve Flaherty said authorities are confident they’ve found the remains of 20-year-old Morgan Harrington, but an autopsy was being conducted to confirm the identification.
New Hampshire: State no longer boasts world’s strongest wind gust
New Hampshire’s Mount Washington has lost its distinction as the site of the fastest wind gust ever recorded on Earth, officials at the Mount Washington Observatory said Tuesday. The concession came three days after the World Meteorological Organization posted a snippet on its Web site saying a panel of experts reviewing extreme weather and climate data turned up a 253 mph gust on Australia’s Barrow Island during Cyclone Olivia in 1996. That tops the 231 mph record set atop Mount Washington on April 12, 1934.
South Korea: Artillery fire exchanged with the North
North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire along their disputed western sea border today, two days after the North designated no-sail zones in the area, the military and news reports said. North Korea fired several rounds of land-based artillery off its coast, an officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said. South Korea, in response, immediately fired warning shots from a marine base on an island near the sea border, according to Seoul’s Yonhap news agency. Yonhap, citing an unidentified military official, said both Koreas fired into the air.
From Herald news services
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